


The Maiden and the Hunter

by the_northern_star



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: ? - Freeform, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Historical, Blood, DenNor, EstLat, I'm Bad At Tagging, Kinda, M/M, Mentioned Ships - Freeform, Minor Violence, Most of them are, Not Beta Read, Out of Character, Songfic, SuFin, Symbolism, Yandere, also kinda - Freeform, i guess, implied ships, lietpol, nah who am I kidding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-06
Updated: 2020-02-06
Packaged: 2021-02-27 18:33:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,200
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22590286
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_northern_star/pseuds/the_northern_star
Summary: Sitting around a cozy fire at Mr. Russia's house, Finland tells the Baltics and Poland a story about a beautiful young man and a hunter who meet by chance in a forest.
Relationships: Denmark/Norway (Hetalia), Estonia/Latvia (Hetalia), Finland/Sweden (Hetalia), Lithuania/Poland (Hetalia), implied/mentioned ships
Comments: 2
Kudos: 34





	The Maiden and the Hunter

**Author's Note:**

> i wish i had beta reader this deadass took two months to write x_x
> 
> anyways. theres a tiny bit of blood at the end, so if u dont like that kind of thing, heres ur final warning!

The fire in the grate was roaring by now, its orange flames dancing and flickering, casting long shadows across the living room. If Tino were a cat, he would be purring right now. The usually ominous grey walls glowed a soft gold, with patches of shadow that jumped back and forth. Even if he was currently in Mr. Russia's house at the moment, Mr. Russia wasn't home, and the Baltics and Feliks were here with him too, so it wasn't like he was that lonely. Curling up further into the couch, he turned to observe the room. It was much nicer than some of the previous living rooms he's had in the past (there had been a few). It had large red velvet couches, decorated with plush cushions, situated around an equally luxurious roaring bearskin carpet and the aforementioned fireplace. Above the fire, on the mantle, and hung on all the walls were gold encrusted ornaments and paintings, most of them spoils of war (just like him!). Beyond the gilded glass windowpanes, Tino could see snowflakes meandering through the cold night sky, only adding to the misplaced cosy feeling he had. Suddenly, he was hit with a fierce pang of homesickness.

Berwald would've loved this, he thinks sadly. If only they could be curled up together right now.

Eduard strolled into the room with a tray of glasses with vaguely alcoholic looking contents and placed it on a mahogany side table before dropping down onto the couch between Tino and Raivis. All five of them immediately go for the drinks, but as Tino got back into his previous position on the couch, he noticed how alone he was. While Eduard and Raivis and Toris and Feliks are quietly chatting, all snuggled up to each of their respective partners, here he was all by himself. He swallows back a bitter giggle. God. Wasn’t he pathetic? Couldn't even protect himself. 

If he hadn’t depended on Berwald for so long, he probably wouldn’t be Russia’s “Grand Duchy” right now. He could’ve stood up for himself instead of waiting for someone to come help him. He could’ve fought for his freedom and safety instead of coming quietly. This crippling loneliness was his reward for being so dependant, and now his entire nation, all his people, and him, could enjoy it!

"I'm bored!" Feliks suddenly announced and Tino felt immensely grateful to the loud nation for once for breaking him out of his depressing train of thought, "let's tell stories!"

Toris sighed in annoyance, pulling his arm tighter around his other half.

“Not right now,” he murmured, but Tino felt like this would be a good time to butt in. After all, he was the one who desperately needed some distraction right now. Even though in the past, in the Old Days, Norway had always been the one with a talent for storytelling, Tino took it upon himself to give it try. Besides, he grinned, looking at the other two couples, he had the perfect one.

"I think I might have a good story," he said innocently.

Eduard yawned. “Alright then,” he said, ignoring Toris quiet protest.

Tino hid a smirk.

“I think you’ll enjoy this one! It’s one of Lukas’ favourites! Ok, so, it all begins in a forest…”

\----------------------------------------------------------

The tale began, like most tales of this sort do, in a forest. It was a sunny day in May, the leaves of the trees and bushes casting a dappled shadow on the leafy forest floor. Birds chirped in the trees and at the edge of a clearing, a mighty stag grazed some ways away from its herd. It lifted its majestic head, brown doe-eyes surveying the woodland terrain. All of a sudden, the stag tensed and, for seemingly no reason at all, reared up and bounded away, its hooves thudding on the forest floors. The herd turned and followed, creating a crashing stampede that resounded through the clearing. The once peaceful aura disappeared underfoot, and the chirping birds flew up squawking into the sky.

Matthias (the protagonist of our story) swore angrily from the bushes he was in. He couldn’t believe it! That stag would’ve been a fine catch and he had been tracking the stupid thing all night long for the wedding feast. Now every single animal in the area had most probably left, and there weren’t even any squirrels he could catch to make up for it! Not that squirrels would’ve been any good anyway. This was finally the chance to prove himself to his betrothed that it had been the right choice to choose him. The gold band around his finger weighed heavy with significance. The marriage had been a hasty decision on the part of his parents to secure a place with more power in their village. His parents had high expectations for him, and so did his betrothed’s family. Even his unwavering optimism was hard to conjure up now, after his third failure this week. 

Dammit! He'd made sure to be extra quiet too! Slowly, he pulled himself to his feet, wincing when he realized his legs had fallen asleep. He stumbled a little, still sore from lying so long in such an uncomfortable position. He had been so sure that he was silent! The only viable options were that the stag had smelled him, which it hadn't because he had been downwind, he had made sure. The only other reason could be because something else had scared it off. As if out of nowhere to answer Matthias' thoughts, the low sound of humming echoed from behind where he was standing. 

Matthias froze. Other humans? This far into the forest? he thought, but nonetheless quietly edged towards where the humming was coming from. How had he been this careless as not to notice another human being?

He was tired before but now he was completely alert. Letting his guard down now would only end in disaster, and he had to stay focused, no matter how much he wanted to slump against the nearest tree and fall asleep. Edging quietly through the undergrowth, he spotted a cloaked figure crouched on the floor, basket to their left. They were picking forest herbs and Matthias couldn’t quite catch a glimpse of their front, them being shielded by a large wine-red cloak after all. They seemed non-threatening, so Matthias made a hesitant step forward, trying to be as quietly as possible. Unfortunately for him, he misjudged it and stepped on a twig with a loud snap. The figure immediately stood up, whirling around in flatter of red cloak, pulling their basket up with them and clutching it to their chest. Finally, he could see their face, and-

"Oh," was all Matthias could breathe dumbly.

The figure was a young man, staring directly at him. He had ebony pale skin, unblemished and smooth, and probably the nicest facial bone structure Matthias had ever seen. He had silky blonde hair, some of which fell ever-so gently in his eyes. His eyes were breathtakingly blue, like that of the ocean, sparkling, on a sunny winters day. Nested in his soft looking golden strands was a garland of red roses, delicately woven together. Something in Mathias' subconscious registered that these roses were native to the area, there was a bush of them growing outside his mother’s house.

Matthias knew he was gaping like an idiot, but he couldn't bring himself to care. This was probably the most beautiful human being he had ever seen in his entire life. But his mouth snapped shut quickly though when guilt pooled in his stomach and the gold band around his ring finger felt especially heavy, reminding him of his position. It clinked against his hunting knife which he slowly stowed away in its scabbard which hung at his waist, so as not to scare the boy. The captivating young man stared right back at him, offering him a teasing almost-smile, the enchanting curve of his lip making Matthias lose himself in his prettiness all over again.

"Um. Uhh, h-hello? I, uh, I didn't know there were humans this far into the woods, haha, and like, um, you kinda scared away the stag I was hunting, and, uh, well..." Matthias found himself trailing off as the boy laughed delicately. His chuckles rang through the forest.

What had he been thinking? He had really wanted to give the person that had scared off his prey a piece of his mind, but now he couldn’t think why. This beautiful angel clearly couldn’t help it!

"Sorry," he murmured softly in a quiet tenor.

"Oh. It's- it's fine! I'm Matthias," he stuttered desperately, feeling like a lovesick teenager all over again, hoping desperately that his overly-warm cheeks weren't too red. Get a hold of yourself, Matthias, you’re engaged! he thought to himself.

"Hello Matthias. I'm Lukas," he smiled indulgently, and Matthias noticed a slight accent to his gentle voice, which had an almost rough edge to it. Almost like he hadn’t talked in quite long time.

"Well, Lukas, where did you come from? It's not often you find people this far into the woods, especially people who are not hunters," Matthias asked, trying to smooth over his awkwardness from before. Relief that it wasn't someone who was going to threaten him kicked in, he felt the rush of adrenaline from before slowly ebb away, being replaced by bone-weary exhaustion.

Lukas frowned. "How do you know that I'm not a hunter?"

"Well, for starters, you have no gear or weaponry. Secondly, you managed to scare away the stag I was trying to hunt before - a real hunter would've been a lot more quiet and would've stayed-" he yawned, "downwind, and thirdly-" Matthias suddenly yelped in surprise, stumbling over some tree roots, only to caught by Lukas, who had latched very tightly onto his arm. Matthias blushed again.

"Are you alright?" Lukas asked softly.

"Oh! Yes. I probably seem very klutzy, but I'm not, honest."

Matthias couldn’t help but notice how Lukas still had his arm in a vice-like grip but could only find it charming. He didn’t think anyone this good-looking had ever held his arm like this before. Lukas delicately arched one eyebrow. It disappeared behind his endearingly long fringe.

"Really! I have just haven't-" he yawned loudly again, "slept in a while."

Lukas now looked vaguely worried. "My house isn't too far from here. You're welcome to come with me there. You're probably hungry too."

That sounded amazing. Matthias hadn't slept or eaten since yesterday, so a warm meal and somewhere to lie down sounded very nice. "If that's alright with you," he laughed gratefully.

Lukas smiled again, wider this time, and offered Matthias his hand, which he took, letting himself be pulled along.

Wow, to think that less than an hour ago, he had been crouching in a uncomfortable bush, waiting for a stag to let its guard down, and now he was being lead through the woods by a strikingly beautiful boy to a warm home with food and a place to rest. He felt immense gratitude to this kind and not to mention gorgeous stranger. He watched Lukas' side profile, admiring the nice curves of his cheekbones against the rush of green-brown-blue of the forest and the sky in the background. For the second time, though, his heart suddenly felt heavy. God. What was he thinking? He was getting married soon! No self-respecting engaged man looked at others like this. Guiltily, he looked away, letting himself be tugged.

A while later, they came to a small cottage in a clearing of the woods, juniper trees and rose bushes growing around it. Wow, the same ones Lukas had in his hair!

They kind of looked like fresh blood, Matthias mused, like from an open wound.

Lukas pushed open the door, pulling Matthias inside and finally freeing his hand. Matthias stared in wonder at the inside of his house. It looked much bigger on the inside. Lots of crowded bookshelves lined the wall, stuffed with dusty leather-bound books and yellowing scrolls. He was suddenly slammed back to reality when he felt cold fingers against the skin of his abdomen, pushing the hem of his shirt up. He flinched, jumping back and going a probably very unflattering shade of red.

"What are you doing!" he squeaked in a very unmanly voice.

Lukas huffed a small laugh. "I'm taking your knife, silly. You can relax now. We're home."

"Sorry," Matthias said, ashamed, "I was just a little surprised, that's all."

Lukas giggles again, and went towards him again, unaffected. He's standing close enough for Matthias to feel his soft breath on his collarbones. He gulps and flinches again when Lukas' delicate musicians’ fingers brush against his abdomen as he fiddles with his knife attached to his belt. His mouth felt really dry as well and he found it hard to swallow again. After what felt like an agonizingly long amount of time, Lukas finally backed away, knife in hand, and walked into the kitchen, saying something about preparing a meal. Matthias stayed standing there in the doorway, gathering himself and catching his breath. He felt much too warm.

After calming his racing heart, Matthias decided to explore the small cottage, as Lukas was busy in the kitchen. He went through a doorway to his left and found himself in a small living room. It was small yet very homely, and, once again, had plenty of bookshelves and books and scrolls crammed between furniture and stacked on the floor in the corner. He neared the bookshelves and curiously read the titles on the dusty and sometimes crumbling spines. Most of them were in languages Matthias didn’t know, but the few that were were apparently about potions and spells and other… more disturbing things.

Well, Matthias concluded, Lukas must really like reading. And… witchcraft. A bit of a red flag, but whatever. He probably had interests others would find weird too, right?

He turned and surveyed the rest of the room. Although the wallpaper was peeling, the room was almost immaculately clean, apart from a strange stain in the threadbare carpet. As much as he wanted to explore the house more though, the worn grey armchair by the window was looking very comfortable, so he decided to collapse on that instead. He settled into a comfortable position, and closed his eyes, and almost immediately drifted off into a peaceful slumber.

When Matthias finally jolted awake to the eerie feeling of being watched, he found Lukas staring at him almost adoringly from the doorway. Then he realised he had just fallen asleep in a stranger’s house, which was probably quite rude.

"Oh. Sorry, I didn't mean to," he croaked, mouth dry.

"Oh, no! It's alright. You were tired, after all," Lukas smiled softly, his eyes still trained on Matthias.

Woah, what a hospitable person. Matthias definitely would've found it rude if someone had done that to him, but he wasn't going to question his luck.

"Uh, well, sorry anyways. How long was I out?"

"Not long. Maybe an hour? The food is ready now."

Again, Matthias let himself be led into the kitchen, where a plate of warm food was sitting on a table. Like a ravenous animal, he descended upon it. He had forgotten to how hungry he was. He was too busy eating to notice Lukas had sat down across from him.

When he finished, he felt ashamed again.

"Wow? What kind of a guest am I? First, I fall asleep in your chair, and now I don't use any table manners. What's next? I'll overstay my welcome?" he laughed, abashed.

Lukas smiled once more. "It's alright. I'm happy you feel at home here."

Matthias chuckled in embarrassment and trained his eyes on the fire in the stove instead. Noticing Matthias' discomfort and the lull in the conversation, Lukas quickly followed up with a "So, tell me about yourself, Matthias."

Matthias gratefully grabbed the opportunity and began talking about himself. Here was something he actually knew how to do well! He explained his hunting (He couldn’t help but show off a little. How could he resist? He was an awesome hunter after all, and he was talking to a pretty boy!), talked about his village and his family, his aspirations in future, his thoughts on different subjects, all while Lukas listened quietly and added comment here and there. The only thing Matthias didn't talk about was his upcoming wedding. It didn't seem right to talk about it, and he wanted to forget about the stress of it for a while. It felt wrong, but the wedding had been the only thing on his mind for the past weeks, and the worst part about it was that no matter where or who he went to in his village, they all just had to remind him in some way or another that he was getting married in less than a month. It was so refreshing to have someone who didn’t know about it or didn’t ask him about it.

When Matthias finally ran out of things to say, it had turned dark out, and he could see his reflection in the window. The forest looked ominous and uninviting, but he felt a flash of worry, nonetheless. He was supposed to home this morning! His parents would be sending a search party soon!

"Oh lord," he gasped, "I have to go. Like, right now. Thank you so much for your hospitality, you’ve been so kind!" He stood up abruptly, pushing his chair out.

Lukas, who was still sitting sleepily across from him, his head in his hands, suddenly stiffened, sitting up suddenly. He moved to stand up as well. "What? Already? Why?"

Matthias laughed mirthlessly; his prediction from before had come true. “My family are probably worried by now. I have been gone for almost an entire twenty-four hours."

Lukas grabbed his arm once again. "Wait. You should stay a little longer! It’ll be dangerous outside anyway!"

“I couldn’t possibly! Besides, I’m a hunter! I can handle myself!” he said as kindly as possible. What had he been thinking! If anyone found him out here, the marriage would be called off in an instant. Him, an engaged man, eating dinner, sleeping, and spending long periods of time at another’s house? It just seemed unfaithful. He had to go, right now.

“Please.”

Matthias stopped, hearing the pleading in his voice and turned to him unsurely.

"Stay with me here."

“I can’t right now, but I could back and visit in a few weeks! I mean, you’re a great host, and- “

“Forever,” Lukas cut in.

"What?" he choked out.

"I- I'm really lonely here. No-one ever comes this far into the woods, and if they are, they are nowhere near as friendly and as handsome and as charming as you. Please? You're a good hunter, you can hunt for me and I'll cook everyday for you in the evenings. Please. I would be a great husband!" The words tumbled so quickly from Lukas’ mouth; it took a while for him to process it all. Him? Stay here?

"What?" Matthias gasps again. Where had that even come from? The other was slowly advancing on him, and he began taking steps backward towards the door. Why was he coming so close? Lukas suddenly grabbed his arm and Matthias stiffened.

"Oh. Uh,” He laughed, not knowing what to say, “this awkward. I'm flattered, but- uh- I'm already betrothed to someone," he muttered, looking down at the floor, not finding it in himself to look at Lukas.

Gasping sharply, Lukas blurted out, "What? But- but I'm in love with you!"

Mathias’ breath caught in his throat. What? "But we only just met!"

Lukas, who had been holding his arm before, now had a vice-like grip on his shoulders once again, and suddenly his pretty ocean-blue eyes where a little too wide open and a flicker of madness danced in them that Matthias hadn't noticed before. He stumbled backwards, back hitting one of the numerous bookshelves lining the walls and gulped. How had he not seen this before? As soon as he had seen Lukas’ beautiful face he had been captivated and hadn’t even taken heed of the many warning signs he’d shown.

"You tricked me! You lied to me!" Lukas snarled. Matthias heart felt like it was going to beat out of his chest.

"Wait, Lukas, no, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-"

"How dare you!"

"It didn't feel right to tell you!"

"It- It didn’t feel right?! You outright lied to me!"

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry- “

Out of nowhere, Lukas whipped Matthias' hunting knife and pressed the cold metal against Matthias' neck, a trickle of blood dripping slowly from the shallow cut it was making.

"Woah! Woah!” he gasped.

Matthias swallowed again, feeling a strange sense of déjà vu from earlier, but this time his mouth was dry with fear, not arousal. Oh lord, he couldn’t even swallow without his jugular scraping painfully against the sharp metal blade. His hands were shaking in terror and he really wished this was just a weird dream which had taken a strange turn.

“Wait, Lukas, please, I'm sorry, I'll explain, I promise, just put the knife down-"

"It's too late for that," Lukas snarled, and in one fell swoop he slit Matthias' throat wide open. Warm blood as red as the roses that had been in Lukas' hair before spurted from the wound, spraying him in the face and splashing against the walls behind him. Matthias stopped struggling and slumped against the dusty bookshelf as soon as Lukas let him go. In the final moments of his life, he stared up at the angel of death that had taken his life. Lukas stared back down at him, chest heaving, his eyes wide with deranged madness. Slowly, Matthias’ eyelids fluttered shut, and try as he might, he couldn’t hold on to his life as it slipped through his fingers like fine sand.

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"The end!" Tino sang brightly, feeling a strange schadenfreude at the looks of horror on his friends' faces.

"What was that?" Toris said, horrified.

"I said a story, not a nightmare! We get enough of that from Russia!" Feliks wailed.

Raivis simply shivered in terror.

"You know," Eduard said contemplatively, pushing his glasses up his nose, "even though it was rather gruesome, I think it was a nice reflection of your character, Tino."

"Thank you," he smiled, "I'm glad someone appreciated it."

"It's not- it's not real, is it?" Raivis squeaked from where he was gripping Eduard so tight Tino feared he would cut off his blood supply. Tino had used Norway and Denmarks’ names in this, and personally Tino found that it gave the story an extra layer of frightening.

"No, of course not! But Lukas always used their names because it scared Matthias, that’s all," he giggled.

In the grate, the fire spluttered to halt. They had all finished their drinks, and the once warm and lavish living room was slowly getting colder. After a few moments of terrorized silence, Feliks suggested they go to bed early (which was unusual for him), everyone immediately agreed. It seemed the mood from before was ruined, and whilst trudging upstairs to his bedroom, Tino felt bad for a second. He hadn’t meant to ruin the evening. It was petty and childish and jealous of him to ruin the evening for the others just because he didn’t have anyone to enjoy it with. But the story had reminded him of better times, and it had made him feel less alone, so he supposed it had an upside.

Sure, when Tino curled up beneath his covers that evening, the bed still felt painfully cold and empty, but somehow this evening it didn't feel so bad. This night, he fell asleep with an almost-smile on his face.

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was a sunny day in May, the birds chirping in the trees, sunlight casting a dappled shadow on the forest floor. Deep in the woods of the North, outside a thatched cottage, a beautiful young man stood, tending to a rose bush. The roses shimmered a beautiful shade of red in the sunlight, their velvety petals reminiscent of warm blood. The man smiled faintly, the roses reminding him of someone. A certain bright, blue-eyed stranger who he had met so many years ago.

He pulled off a rose and for a moment, he admired its fleeting beauty and basked in the warmth of the good memory and the new spring sunlight. What a lovely day that had been. His weary existence filled with misery and loneliness had been so much brighter for just a single second. To him, the young hunter had been a supernova of emotion in the coldest, darkest, deepest reaches of the universe.

Now though, the supernova had cooled and faded away, lying six feet under, buried somewhere in the forest. No grave to commemorate him, no real lover to mourn him. It was better this way, the man mused, and with a cruel smile, he grabbed a fistful of rose petal and tore them off the flower, scattering them to the wind. 

Yes. It was better this way.

**Author's Note:**

> uh. this didnt turn out so bad i guess xd
> 
> kinda embarrassed to admit that this is inspired by that one midsomer murders episode with the folk music. this is basically the lyrics of the song put into a weird dennor fanfic (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_aFJ2u5jTE)
> 
> im also not really sure?? what i was doing?? like i wanted norway and denmark to be the main focus but i also wanted the finland dynamic but that kind of makes it a hetalia inception. whatever
> 
> pls leave kudos? pls. but like only if u wanna. would still be nice tho. u know. makes me feel validated and warm and fuzzy inside >///< <3


End file.
